March 30, 2008
CHILLICOTHE, Ohio — The Marietta College baseball team wrapped up its two-day trip to V.A. Memorial Stadium Sunday (March 30) afternoon with a doubleheader split with non-conference foe Allegheny (Pa.) College. The Pioneers won game one 9-4 but lost the finale 4-2 to improve to 7-11 overall. The Gators moved to 3-9.

Sophomore Ryan Frost (St. John, Ind./Lake Central) was the story of game one. He finished 3-for-3 with a home run, triple and double. In the second game, sophomore Joe Pitrone (Highland Heights/Mayfield) struck out a career-high 13 batters but did so in a losing effort.

Senior Tony Piconke (Clinton Township, Mich./Clintondale) and freshman Britt Meador (Columbus/Worthington Kilbourne) both went 2-for-4 in the victory, while freshman Casey Levens (Dayton/Centerville) finished 2-for-3 in the loss.

Marietta jumped ahead with three runs in the first and never looked back in the opener. Meador had a two-run single in the frame. Allegheny answered with two runs on four hits off Marietta sophomore Nate Eschbaugh (Marietta) in the second. The Pioneers, however, reclaimed control with a three-run bottom of the inning. Frost tripled and scored on a single by Piconke, who later scored on a sacrifice fly by senior Dom Winters (Washington, Pa.). Sophomore Chris Beatty (Seven Fields, Pa./Hampton) drove in the third run with a two-out single.

After the Gators added a run on a sacrifice fly in the fourth, a three-run home run by Frost gave the Pioneers a 9-3 advantage after five innings. Allegheny’s final run came on a home run by Zach Skowvron off reliever Chris Stewart (Dublin/Dublin Coffman). It was the only hit allowed by Stewart, who replaced Eschbaugh, the winning pitcher, and earned the save with three strong innings of relief. Eschbaugh (1-0) scattered three runs on five hits and struck out three in four innings.

Pitrone (0-3) allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits and walked two in the second game.

The Gators used a two-run home run by Skowvron in the second inning to take an early lead. Skowvron, who finished 2-for-3, then had a RBI single in the fourth to stretch the lead to 3-0. Marietta pulled within a run in the fifth. Levens singled and scored on an error. Beatty also scored in the inning on a wild pitch. Allegheny added an insurance run in the top of the seventh when Pete Obourn crossed the plate on a wild pitch.

Marietta is back in action on Wednesday (April 2) when the Pioneers visit NCAC rival Denison University for a single, nine-inning game at 7 p.m. The action can be heard live locally in Marietta on WMOA-AM 1490 and over the Internet at http://pioneers.marietta.edu/onlinebroadcasts.html.